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Wine Description
The Story
In 1886, high in the Santa Cruz Mountains, the first Monte Bello vineyards were planted, and winery construction begun. A first vintage from the young vines followed in 1892. During Prohibition (1920-1933), the vineyard was not fully maintained; some vines survived into the late 30s, but by the 1940s they were effectively abandoned. Eight acres of cabernet sauvignon were replanted in 1949. These were the source of the first Ridge Monte Bello (1962) and subsequent vintages until 1974 when younger blocks replanted in the 1960s were considered for inclusion. Since then, the historic vineyards on the ridge have gradually been replanted.
The Monte Bello (originally Monte Bello Cabernet; until 1975, 100% cabernet) is the wine that introduced Ridge to the world, and the world to Ridge. Today it is a blend of bordeaux varietals in which cabernet sauvignon still predominates. Exhaustive tasting of test blends during assemblage determines how much — if any — merlot, petit verdot, or cabernet franc will be included in the finished wine. Almost every vintage (an unbroken chain from '62 on) has something substantive to recommend it. Each decade has its high points, but year after year Monte Bello proves to be a consistently outstanding wine. There's structure, there's complexity, there's balance. And it develops for a long, long time.
The vineyards are grown organically.
Ridge wine is made with an emphasis on quality and naturalness that is rarely attempted. Our grapes are grown in select vineyards (usually identified on the label), where they are left to ripen to peak maturity, often at some loss of quantity. We let the wine settle and age in small barrels, with only rare cellar treatment other than racking. Varieties are not blended unless so indicated on the label. Near Black Mountain on Monte Bello Ridge, our main vineyard is 10 miles south of Palo Alto, 15 miles inland from the ocean, and over 2000 feet in elevation.
Wine Information
BLEND: 100% Cabernet Sauvignon
ALC: 12.7%
VINTAGE 1968 REPORT: Though picked at only slightly higher sugar content than the 1967 crop, the 1968 grapes from our fully mature Cabernet vineyard produced a wine even richer and fuller. We recommend to collectors that they consider not opening it, except for tasting and evaluation, until 1978 at the earliest.
PRESS:
Wine Spectator (June 2019): 96 Points. “The 1968 drinks like an old Left Bank Bordeaux, with a very St.-Julien-like profile of bouquet garni, dried red currant fruit and cedar and sanguine notes that are very graceful and very mature, but still persistent. There’s still some tension on the finish underlying the perfumy feel, with sagebrush echoing beautifully.” – James Molesworth
The Wine Advocate (May 2018): 95 Points. “The 1968 Monte Bello is extraordinary, blossoming with air to reveal a rich and complex bouquet of cassis, dried cherries, rich soil, walnuts and subtle hints of pencil shavings and cigar smoke. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied, powerful and multidimensional, with a deep core of fruit that’s still vibrant despite its age, framed by melting tannins and bright balancing acids. Elegantly muscular in style, I suspect that in a blind tasting, many would mistake the 1968 Monte Bello for a mature vintage of Château Latour. Likely matured in used Bordeaux cooperage, it’s 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from vines planted in the 1940s by retired theologian William Short, and it attained 12.7% natural alcohol. During vinification, boards were used to submerge the cap, which likely helps to account for its formidable structure and substance. While, at this stage, bottle variation is to be expected, this example looked to be a 50-year wine.” – William Kelley
